Oysters are beneficial to ecosystems as they help to clean waters through their consumption of algae which has the capacity to kill marine life through toxins or loss of oxygen, causing red tide. On average, one single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day - that’s around 126 cans of coke!
由於蠔以藻類為食,所以它們能夠幫助清理水域,有益於整個生態系統。蠔所吃的藻類能夠以毒素或缺氧的方式殺死海洋動物,引發赤潮。平均而言,一顆蠔在一天內能夠過濾高達50加侖的水,等同於大約126罐可樂!
The water filtering done by the oysters ultimately allows for a larger amount of biodiversity as more species of aquatic animals can survive in the cleaner waters. According to a recent study by SWIMS, oyster reefs are home to six times more species than bare muddy shores. The same research identified more than over 80 species on intertidal muddy shores in Deep Bay, with 95 percent found in oyster reefs, and nearly 60 percent of which were only found within those reefs.
經過蠔的過濾後,更多物種最終能夠在這海水裡生存下去,因為更多海洋物種只能在乾淨的水裡生存。根據一份由太古海洋科學研究所最近發表的研究報告,蠔礁比起光禿禿的泥灘能容納 6 倍以上的物種。在同樣一份研究報告中也說明,研究人員在后海灣的潮間泥灘海岸中發現超過80 個物種,而當中的 95%是在蠔礁中尋獲的,並且近 60% 的物種是蠔礁獨有的。
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